Wedding Day Part Two

Wedding Day Part Two: The Event

My siblings and I
Jessica - Liz - Matt- Me - Joey

Although were were nearly two hours late for taking pictures, we got them all taken and the wedding started on time. We lined up in the back of church and on our cue, walked up the aisle and took our places. When it was the ring bearer's turn to walk down the aisle, he practically ran in, covering his face with his arm. It gave everyone a good laugh. The rest of the ceremony went smoothly...except for the part where my brother dropped the rings!

When the wedding party arrived at the reception, everyone began to eat. Because both our family and Liz's family is so big, there were over 400 people at the reception! My other brother Joey served as the best man, and gave a hilarious speech about my brother that brought back a lot of great childhood memories. After the cake was served, it was time for more pictures, but this time they were with all my cousins and friends who were at the wedding. After some of the pictures, a very competitive game of tag broke out between Jordan and my little cousin Ashlyn. This is a picture of her telling him, "You run, and then I'm gonna getcha!"

Soon, the DJ started and the dance began. After the couple's first dance and the father-daughter and mother-son dances were finished, we hit the dance floor! It was a blast! My family was there, most of my friends were there, and the music was great, so I had an awesome time. After a few hours of dancing, singing, and a few karaoke performances, the night came to an end. My voice hurt from singing, my legs killed from dancing, and my eyes were barely staying open, all signs of a great night! I am so happy to have gained another sister and wish Matt and Liz the best!

Wedding Day Part One

Yesterday was my bother Matt's wedding! I have a lot to say about it so I'm going to divide it into two separate blogs: the preparation and the actual event.

My sister, her boyfriend Matt, me, and Jordan before the wedding

Wedding Day Part One: The Before

I never realized how much work went in to planning a wedding until I was a part of one. From the big choices of dates and locations to the smallest decorating details there is a lot to take care of. Many of these decisions are made far in advance, but the week before a wedding is still a very busy time. Thursday morning, my mom and I worked on making food for the rehearsal supper the following night. Thursday afternoon and evening was spent decorating the reception hall. Friday morning, more food was made and the rehearsal supper site was set up and decorated. The rehearsal took place at the church on Friday night, and afterwards, we headed to the rehearsal supper. At the supper, we ate and then my brother and sister-in-law handed out gifts to the wedding party. Included in the bridesmaids' gifts were jewelry for us to wear the next day. The necklace and earrings were a gorgeous fuschia that went perfectly with our cobalt blue dresses. After the rehearsal stuff was picked up, the wedding party all headed for home to get some rest before the big day.

Helping Matt get his cuff links on

Early on Saturday morning, I went to get my hair done. My mom scheduled my appointment at the only hair salon in my tiny hometown. My sister is not a big fan of the stylist there, so she scheduled an appointment with her friend from high school who just graduated from cosmetology school last winter. I wish that I would have followed my sister's lead and gone somewhere else. We'll just say that when I got back from my appointment, the 8o's called, and they wanted my hair back. I'm talking tight ringlet curls piled on top of my head and sticking out from the sides and back in all directions. It was a disaster! Thankfully, my sister's friend was able to free some of my hair from its time-warped tangle and make me look semi-normal. Because my hair had taken so long, I had to rush to finish my nails and make-up and get dressed in addition to helping my brother get dressed. By some miracle, we ended up making it to the church right on time, which proved to be a not-so-great thing...

My sister and I goofing around with the matron
 of honor's husband  while we were waiting.

The photographer was late. Two of the other bridesmaids were late with their hair. Some of the groomsmen showed up late. The ring bearer's pillow got misplaced. All in all, we didn't take pictures for an hour and a half after we first got to the church. In the meantime, we tried to entertain ourselves by taking goofy pictures and dancing in the church basement. Finally, we got all the pictures taken, and the wedding was ready to begin.

Fall Break Come Faster!!

I cannot wait for fall break! No offense to Wartburg, but I cannot wait to get home! Fall break promises to be one of the greatest weeks of my year with all of the things I have planned. Right after IS on Wednesday, I'll be leaving to go to the first high school playoff game. My high school team finished the regular season as district champs! I hope they win and keep going in the playoffs, so I can keep watching Jordan play! I know for sure that I will cry when his last high school game ends. Thursday, I am going to a haunted house with a group of my friends from home. Even though I usually end up crying because I am so scared, I am still looking forward to it. On Friday morning, Jordan and I have a date with his 6-year-old nephew, Kade, to carve Jack-O-Lanterns. Kade is an adorable little guy, and I love to spend time with him. The afternoon on Friday will be spent decorating the reception hall for my brother Matt's wedding, and the rehearsal and supper will take place that night. Then Saturday is wedding day again! Matt will be marrying Liz Hageman, and I couldn't be happier! I get to be a bridesmaid in the wedding which is so much fun! I can't wait to celebrate the wedding Saturday night at the dance (I love dancing!!). The wedding's colors are cobalt blue and pink. Our dresses are long strapless, sweetheart dresses in a gorgeous blue. I am seriously shaking in anticipation! Unfortunately, I first have to survive two major tests before I get to have fun. Hopefully, I'll be so busy studying that the time will fly by, and before I know it, I'll be driving up to those [Wednesday] night lights!

My T-shirt

I figured it would be helpful to have an explanation of the things depicted on my T-shirt.

Starting on the back...

My name appears at the top in my favorite color, green! Below I am illustrated as a green person surrounded by other people, my family. At the top are my mom and dad, on the sides are my brothers and my sisters-in-law, and on the bottom is my sister. I chose to put my family on the back side of my shirt because they've always "got my back."

To the sleeves...

On one sleeve is a cross showing my faith. I am a cradle Catholic and went to Catholic elementary school, so religion is a pretty big part of my life. Underneath the cross is my birth date. 

On the other sleeve is the number 21. I chose this number because it is my boyfriend's football and baseball number, and I love watching him play!

To the front...

On the front are numerous drawings of things and activities I enjoy and are important to me. On my left side, I drew a heart. Inside it are the initials of my boyfriend and I. Jordan is a huge part of my life, so I had to include him! (He helped me come up with a lot of the other stuff to put on here!) On my right side is an orange ribbon. Orange is the "color" for leukemia, and because my sister had this type of cancer, I hold this cause very close to my heart. In my anatomically correct stomach (because I am a bio major!) is ice cream, my favorite thing to eat. Also included on the front are activities I enjoy including fishing, tennis, baseball, football, cheering for my high school, music, and my love for the Cyclones! On my right side is a ruler marking 4 feet 11 1/2 inches, my height! Being short is usually the first thing people notice about me, and I am always hearing tons of "short jokes" (especially from Brady!).

At first staring at this blank white T-shirt was intimidating. I'm not really much of an artsy person, but after I started, doing this project was actually pretty fun!

Hockey

This week, I ordered tickets for next weekend's Waterloo Blackhawks hockey game. I'll be going with my boyfriend, Jordan, and our friends Phil and Paula. I am very excited and it will definitely be a good time! I really like watching hockey now, but if you would have asked me about the sport 3 years ago, I would have told you I am NEVER going to a game again! Let's just say I had a less than desirable first hockey game experience...

Three years ago, during my sophomore year of high school, I went to a Blackhawks game with 5 other girls. We were dazzled by the light show during the starting lineup and the overwhelming sound of cowbells ringing all around us. The game started, and we spent the first ten minutes attempting to just follow the puck and figure out the rules of the game. As the first period proceeded, we began to catch onto the game and started to cheer along with the rest of the fans. I watched as a Blackhawks player swung his stick and sent the puck flying up into the air. The next thing I knew, the puck was in my lap. Completely dumbfounded, I picked up the puck, turned it over in my hands and realized there was blood on it. Still utterly confused, I turned to my friend Julia who was sitting next to me. At this moment, I was suddenly aware that my ear and the side of my head were in an incredible amount of pain. I also realized that there was blood gushing at the top of Julia's head. My friend Jordan, who was sitting on the other side of Julia, suddenly exclaimed, "Julia, you're bleeding!" Julia replied with a very faint "No shit!" and proceeded to fall backwards and nearly pass out. Slowly, my hurting head pieced together the scene before me. The puck had ricocheted off of the large ventilation shaft hanging from the ceiling, made its way through a tiny gap in the netting less than two inches wide, slammed into the top of Julia's head, bounced into the side of my head, and finally landed in my lap. The other girls called for help and the events center medical staff quickly rushed to our aid. They hurried Julia off to an examination room, leaving the rest of us in complete shock. My head ached terribly, but at least I wasn't bleeding. Not knowing what else to do, we walked to the bathroom where I washed the blood off of the puck in the sink. We retook our seats and waited for news of Julia. The only adult with us, Jordan's mom, went with Julia so we were all alone. Finally, Jordan's mom called us. Although Julia seemed fine, other than the bleeding, the paramedics insisted on strapping her to a stretcher and taking her by ambulance to the ER where she got several staples in her head. When Julia and Jordan's mom finally got back, the game was nearly over. After the game, the manager took us to see the players where we got their autographs. Julia even got the player who hit her to sign the actual puck he hit her with! I ended up with a swollen and bruised ear for a week. Needless to say, none of us were too keen to go to another hockey game. Last year, however, my boyfriend finally convinced me to give hockey another shot. We went to three games last season, and even though I ducked and covered my head every time a puck flew in the air, I've come to really enjoy watching the sport.

What scares you?

Halloween is fast approaching! I recently saw a sign hanging up that read, "What scares you?" and I thought it would make a perfect blog topic. So here is a lovely list of the things that scare me. Most of them are pretty strange...

1) Trains. Trains terrify me! During Drivers Ed., we were shown a movie about trains. Although the point of the movie was to emphasize railroad crossing safety, it scared me to death! The movie and the discussion that followed was full of horrific train accidents where people would get hit by a train and turn into "pink mist." Since then, I have been terrified of trains and railroad crossings, which is not a good thing because I have to cross train tracks to go pretty much anywhere from my house. Last year, one of my classmates hit a train with his truck piling on even more fear of trains, and recently, I watched the movie Unstoppable about a runaway train. Terrible terrible terrible idea! I am more freaked out than ever. I don't even like the sound of trains anymore!

2) Moths. Moths freak me out. They are so gross looking! They have those big furry looking bodies and ugly looking wings. I absolutely hate walking underneath the lights on my porch at home because the moths are attracted to them and then they swarm all over me and touch me and get in my hair! Ugh gross! Not only are they repulsive, but they also scare me. When I was little, my dad made up this story about "slasher moths." These so-called "slasher moths" had 2 inch fangs that they would attack you with. I know it's stupid and it was all made up, but every time they swarm around me, I'm still scared one of them is going to whip out their fangs and bite me!

3) Coyotes howling. I live in a very rural area, surrounded by farms and timber. In the summer, there are tons of coyotes that howl all night long. My parents think it is beautiful to listen to, but I absolutely hate it! I know that I am in my house and safe and that coyotes don't attack people anyway, but they sound like really scary wolves to me! Sometimes they are so loud I swear they are sitting on my roof howling directly into my window. There have been numerous times where I have woken up to their awful sound, and paralyzed with fear, I make my sister get up and shut the windows so I can't hear them anymore. I think I'm so scared of them because when I was little, my sister and I watched the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast all the time. In the movie, a pack of wolves attack twice, and that part always scared me to death! Since the coyotes sound exactly like those stupid wolves, they terrify me!

Baby of the Family

The Family on my Graduation Day
Joey - Monica - Mom - Me - Dad - Jessica - Matt - (Liz is missing)

My family is a big part of my life, and since I haven't done so yet, I'm going to use this blog to formally introduce the Boyer clan. My parents are Donny and Jeannie Boyer. My dad is a carpenter, and my mom is a nurse. I have three older siblings, 2 brothers and 1 sister.

My oldest brother, Matt, is 28. He works as an agronomist for a crop chemical company in Guthrie Center, Iowa. He is currently working on completing his thesis for his Master's degree from Iowa State University. Matt is an avid hunter and is completely and helplessly addicted to caffeine. On October 29th, Matt will be marrying Liz Hageman. Matt and Liz have been dating since 2004, so it's about time they tie the knot. Liz is currently getting her doctorate in kinesiology from ISU.

Joey is 26 and works as an engineer for John Deere in Cedar Falls. Joey loves to cook and he ran in last year's Chicago marathon. He married Monica Carolan the weekend of Orange EXCELeration. She works in marketing at the Waverly Health Center. Up until two weeks ago, Joey and Monica lived in Waverly only 1/2 a block from campus, but they just moved into a house in Cedar Falls.

My sister, Jessica, will turn 21 in 1 month and 1 day. (She is very excited!) She is a junior at Loras College in Dubuque, and will be transferring to Allen College in June to complete the 3+1 nursing program. Sometimes people will mistake Jessica and I for twins even though we don't think we look anything alike. Jessica has a boyfriend of over a year who was a 2011 graduate of Wartburg's computer science program. He lives in Des Moines, so she spends lots of weekends there!

We also have 3 dogs: Kujo, Gunner, and Rebel. My dad sometimes refers to his favorite dog, Rebel, as his youngest child. Its pathetic really.

Anyway...with all these older family members, I am the baby of the family! Sometimes this is a blessing, and sometimes it's a curse. Here's a breakdown of the pros and cons of being the youngest.

Pros                                                                            Cons
-My siblings had to drive me around everywhere            - I now have to be my siblings' DD
-I could get them in trouble by tattling                            - They got revenge by beating me up afterwards
-My mom made them play with me                                - They always won
-They babysat me                                                         - They told me scary stories so I couldn't sleep
-I had them to protect me from other kids                      - They teased and taunted me more than anyone!
-I got babied by everyone                                             - No one takes me seriously now that I'm older
-I got to be an only child after they moved out               - Being an only child when you're 16 is no fun
-I'm cuter 'cause I'm the baby                                        - They're "wiser" 'cause they're older (not true!)

Graphic Novel

When I first found out that the book we had to read for IS was a graphic novel, I was not very happy. I have no interest in comics or art or anything of the sort, so I was definitely not looking forward to reading Persepolis. To my surprise, I didn't completely end up hating it. The pictures made the story go by much faster and made it easier for me to get into a story I most definitely wouldn't have chosen to read about on my own. Without the pictures, I don't think I would have completely understood the war and the revolution that took place in Iran either. In addition, if the story was written in just text, I think it would have been a little too depressing. The bits of humor sprinkled into the drawings turn a pretty heavy story into a fairly easy read. There were things that I definitely didn't like as well. I really did not like all the politics in the book. I realize that politics and war and revolution were the things that shaped Marji's life the most, but I just have no interest in reading about them. I got pretty bored during the parts where politics were discussed. Also, I didn't really like Marji very much as a character. I respect her courage and her tenacity, but I just disagreed completely with some of the decisions she made, especially about drugs. Due to personal experiences, I have very little respect for people who choose to destroy their lives and the lives of those around them with drugs and have virtually no pity for them either. (I could go on about this forever, but that's a story for another blog.) Overall the experience of reading Persepolis wasn't terrible, and I almost actually liked the story. As for graphic novels as a whole, I realize now that they are much more than just really long comics, and given the right story, I think they can be a very effective medium.

The Worst Homecoming Imaginable

All week I have been looking forward to my high school's homecoming game and dance on Friday night. My boyfriend was on the homecoming court, I love football as you already know, and I also love to dance with my friends. You would think this was going to be an awesome night, right? Wrong. I promise that even though this blog is going to read out like a bad teen movie, it is really the story of Turkey Valley's 2011 Homecoming from Hell. The day started out promising. Classes flew by, I packed up my stuff, and headed for the booming metropolis of Lawler, Iowa, population of about 500. Pulling up to Brady's house, I was excited to see cars belonging to members of the "old gang." We always used to get together at Brady's house before football and basketball games, and his mom Janel, an angel on earth, would feed us and check on how each of us was doing. (It is one of my goals in life to grow up to be just like Janel Kuennen!) It was great to be back among people I've known almost all my life. After our get-together at the Kuennen's, we all headed to the game. The first half went well. We were up 22-14 at halftime, but the good times ended shortly after. At the end of a third quarter, one of our players went down hard. He was taken by ambulance for a concussion. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, my boyfriend, Jordan, didn't get up from the pile after being tackled on a long run. Every time he gets hit and doesn't get back up, my heart sinks. Jordan couldn't walk, so they carried him off the field and set him on the bench. I barely noticed that we scored again. All my attention was focused on the trainer furiously working on Jordan's leg. By the middle of the fourth quarter, our opponent, Bellevue, made a touchdown and the 2 point conversion, and the score changed to 28-22. The ball was in our possession, but our quarterback threw an interception, and another one of our players went down with an ankle injury. With 3 of our starters out of the game, Bellevue made a touchdown with less than 30 seconds on the clock. The score was tied 28-28, and they still had the chance for the extra point. Their kick was good. We couldn't make a comeback in the 5 seconds left of the game, and we lost our homecoming game by 1 point. When I got to sidelines after the game, all the seniors were crying. Jordan was still on the bench. The trainer said he needed to go get x-rays of his leg right away to make sure it wasn't broken. Jordan was inconsolable; if he had a fracture, he'd be out for the rest of the season. Brady and another guy carried Jordan up to the school and into the locker room. It was obvious we were going to miss the dance and the homecoming court's grand march. Instead, we headed to the emergency room in Decorah, and waited while Jordan got x-rays. Thankfully, they didn't find a fracture, and he only ended up with a bone bruise. It was still definitely the worst homecoming ever. Three players were injured, and two ended up in the ER. Jordan had to sit on the sidelines and watch his team lose by one point with 5 seconds left, completely helpless. We missed the dance, and he missed his entrance as a member of the homecoming court and almost lost his football season. The only good thing was that Jordan didn't break his leg. Even so, last night's game was still the homecoming from hell.

Bad Morning :(

I went to bed late Wednesday night, but couldn't fall asleep until the early morning hours due to the loud, obnoxious, door-slamming, opera-singing, people who roam the hallways of my floor late at night. (Seriously, people SING all the time on my floor. Like loud classical singing at all hours of the night. Seriously! Is that really necessary?) After I fell asleep, I was woken up just a few short hours later, around 2:00am due to sharp pains in my abdomen. I tried as best I could to get comfortable and fall back asleep, but it didn't work too well. At 5:30, I gave up on sleep and decided to just get up. Bad idea. Upon sitting, the pain in my stomach got much much worse. It was happening again. Since June, I have been having intermittent severe abdominal pain. The first time it happened, I ended up in the emergency room. They ordered an ultrasound, thinking it was my gallbladder, but the test came back normal. Since then, the pain has come back four times, always in the same place, but always going away after a few hours. Thursday morning, I decided to stick it out, wait for the pain to go away, and head to my 7:45 lab. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. I couldn't move. I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand, and I couldn't walk. The pain immobilized me; it was the second most sever I've ever felt it. I waited until 6:30 to see if it would pass, but it didn't. There was no way I could go to my lab like this. I called my sister to see what to do. My sister told me to try to contact my professor about missing lab and to get a note from the health center to send to my professor. I called my mom next to let her know what was going on. She told me if I couldn't get an appointment down there, she would come get me and take me in back home where she works at a clinic. The health clinic on campus doesn't open until 8:30 so I left them a message around 7:30, emailed and called my professor, and attempted to fall back asleep. Apparently my short night's sleep caught up to me because the next thing I knew it was 8:55 and the pain was mercifully gone! Shortly after, the health clinic called me back and told me they had an opening at 9:45. I quickly showered, got dressed, and headed to the clinic. I told the nurse and the PA on staff what had happened that morning and what kept happening over the summer. The PA decided to send me to the hospital for an abdominal x-ray and some blood work. I spent the rest of the morning waiting in those so aptly named waiting rooms all over the Waverly hospital. They poked and prodded me then sent me back to campus. When they called me later I was happy to learn that there was seemingly nothing wrong with my pancreas, liver, or gallbladder, but do to the x-ray results, they decided to put me on a prescription stomach medicine. Hopefully this medicine does the trick so I won't have any more bad mornings.